


Stronger

by SpiritWorld



Category: Descendants (2015), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bro bonding, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Swimming, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:49:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritWorld/pseuds/SpiritWorld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was no secret among the kids that grew up on the Isle of the Lost that you were bound to come away with cuts and bruises before you were even an adult, but his scars they were different from the ones he’d seen on the others before. And now with Ben giving him swimming lessons, they were even harder to hide.</p>
<p>Based off of a prompt by trippsykes: <em>Carlos not knowing how to swim so Ben teaches him, but Carlos is super insecure about his body so he keeps his shirt on the whole time.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Stronger

He carefully guided his bare foot into the water, a shiver running up his spine as he registered how cold the lake really was. Looking ahead he could see that Dude couldn’t care less about his dillema; the dog had already swam circles around the lake before he had even managed to get himself in waist deep. The water drenched his shirt as he waded along and Carlos cringed as the fabric weighed him down making it even harder for him to move. Not knowing how to swim at 16 was frustrating because who was really going to teach him? Evie, Mal, and Jay didn’t know how to swim either and Dude couldn’t exactly show him how. He’d seen Jay practicing once or twice with Mal and Evie when they had nothing better to do but this was something he wanted to do alone. The whole no shirt ordeal really wasn’t his thing and if he swam with them they’d ask questions.

It was no secret among the kids that grew up on the Isle of the Lost that you were bound to come away with cuts and bruises before you were even an adult, but his scars they were different from the ones he’d seen on the others before. Those were from general rough housing and the odd accidental run in with some sharp objects. Granted he had some of those too but the ones on his chest weren’t like that. They were larger, a lot uglier. He’d rather keep them to himself. 

Of course the thought had entered into his mind that he could just never learn how to swim because then he’d never have to worry about it. But he couldn’t give up now, the others weren’t. He tried to float in a shallow area of the lake so that he could stand back up if he wasn’t successful. Each time he tried to let go of the fear of drowning but still his muscles clenched and his eyes squeezed shut and he could feel himself sinking again and again. Dude swam over to him barking in a way that seemed to be encouraging and Carlos gave him a small smile before trying yet again.

He’d been standing to close to the edge of the drop off, a fact he didn’t notice until he tried to plant his feet and felt that there was nothing beneath him. Carlos flailed his arms hoping all of his thrashing would keep him afloat but his arms were quickly getting tired and he wasn’t moving forward. “Help! Someone, help!” He wasn’t sure if there was anyone actually in the forest but he hoped that he wouldn’t drown all alone in some dumb lake. That sounded like a completely anticlimactic way for an ex-villain to go. Dude began to frantically bark alongside his yelling and Carlos turned to see that Ben was running his way yelling at him to hold on. That was much easier said than done.

Fancy suit and all Ben jumped into the water disappearing for a moment before resurfacing right next to him. He hooked his arms around Carlos who had finally given up on flailing around and dragged him back onto land.

“Are you alright?” Ben huffed, his chest heaving from the sudden overexertion he hadn’t expected to go through. Carlos propped himself up on his elbows and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself from his almost near death experience.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks, Ben,” he whispered doing his best not to meet the other boy’s eyes. It was embarrassing enough that he didn’t know how to swim and now some prince had to go and save him. That prince being Ben wasn’t much better, but it was probably better than if Chad had rescued him. That was something he was sure he’d never live down. 

“Did you fall in?” Ben stretched out his hand to Carlos and the other boy took a hold of it to hoist himself up.

“Why would you th-”

“You still have your clothes on is why I’m asking. That can’t be comfortable,” Ben’s nervous laughter did something unsettling to his stomach but the feeling quickly became doused by one of dread. There were the questions he was avoiding.

“Yeah, I fell in! I’m just really clumsy, you know me,” it wasn’t his best lie but he’d hoped it’d be enough for Ben not to ask any more questions. He took the smile that spread itself across the prince’s face as an indicator that it had worked.

“It happens to the best of us. I guess none of you know how to swim then, huh?” The questioning look Carlos shot his way prompted him to go on. “I mean, back when I was dating Mal, she didn’t know how to swim either. I guess I never really thought about the fact that the barrier would block off all the water around the island.”

“Yeah,” Dude came running up to both of them at that moment interrupting their conversation much to Carlos’ relief. “Hey, at least you’re a pro swimmer.” Dude gave him a bark of affirmation and Carlos could feel himself start to relax.

“Hey, if it’s okay with you I can teach you how to swim,” Ben offered leaning over to pet Dude.

“No, it’s okay you don’t have too,” He was supposed to do this on his own.

“Carlos, I want to. Alright?” He knew that if anyone could help him it would be Ben. He’d always helped him before with Tourney, maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.

“Yeah, okay,” the prince’s eyes lit up and Carlos knew that there would be no going back on this one. Hopefully he’d just be able to keep on his shirt.

(x)

The next day after their last classes Ben walked Carlos back to the lake to start his swimming lessons. The water was just as freezing as it had been the day before and Carlos began to have second thoughts.

“Okay, so I guess we’ll just start out with treading water today. Sound good?”

Carlos shrugged. “Well I don’t know what that is so, sure.”

“Well then let’s get started.” Carlos held his breath as Ben took off his shirt and pants leaving him clad only in a pair of shorts that- wait a minute.

“Are those tiny crowns?” An uncontrollable laughter began to bubble up inside of him at the prince’s expression that followed his remark. Ben looked as if he would try to defend himself but instead gave into laughing too. He didn’t know what else he’d expected, this was definitely like him.

“I guess no one’s really a fan of these, huh?” Ben chimed in after their laughter had settled down. Carlos quirked his eyebrows and snorted at his comment.

“No they’re totally cool. Super princely,” he teased. That dumb ever present smile was still plastered to his face and God was it infectious.

“Let’s get started then.” Carlos moved to the edge of the water with Ben, taking off his shoes before stepping in. The prince turned back around and shot Carlos a questioning look as the teen stepped into the water with most of his clothes still on.

“You might want to take those off. It makes swimming a lot easier.”

“No! I mean, uh, I really just don’t want to if that’s okay?” He couldn’t go through with this if Ben would keep insisting on it. 

“I guess whatever you want to do. It’s alright with me,” a feeling of relief washed over him as he walked further into the water, this time taking note on where it would drop off. He stopped when the water reached his chest and waited for Ben to tell him what to do next.

“Uh okay, what now?”

“Make sure your legs aren’t touching the ground and start kicking lightly to keep yourself floating.”

Carlos groaned at the seemingly simple instructions he had been given. “I’ve literally already tried that. Isn’t there some quicker way for me to become an awesome swimmer?”

Ben sighed but kept insisting that he’d follow directions. “It’s not that hard. I promise.”

“Fine. But it won’t work.” The boy half-heartedly began kicking his legs until he could feel his body sinking once more. “See, nothing happened.” Just as he was about to steady himself he felt a hand press against the small of his back. He could feel the warmth of it even through his T-shirt and it filled him with a sense of comfort he hadn’t noticed he was lacking before. He turned around with the intention of asking Ben what exactly he was doing but his words died in his throat as intense hazel eyes caught his gaze and refused to let go. Carlos scrambled for something to say but his heart was racing against his will and suddenly it was hard to breathe and the whole situation just left him feeling confused. But in a good way, he thought, somehow.

“Your muscles are more relaxed now, try again,” Ben told him calmly letting go of his back. He was right. The anxiety that had filled him had begun to lessen. There was an unfamiliar feeling of peace that came over Carlos’ usually turbulent thoughts. He attempted to keep himself afloat again, trying his best to focus on that feeling of comfort. Ben’s smile when he could actually tread water for more than a minute sent an air of electricity through him that he would try to decipher later. But, for now, he was happy just to be progressing.

(x)

A couple of months passed by and Ben continued to give Carlos swimming lessons twice a week. He was becoming a pretty strong swimmer if he did say so himself. Better than the others anyway. He waited for Ben in their usual spot to continue his swimming lessons but the prince was running late. Carlos sat himself down on a rock, running his hand through Dude’s coat as he waited for the boy to come. He didn’t like being left alone with his thoughts because they were all about Ben nowadays. All about Ben’s hair, Ben’s clothes, Ben’s smile. He wanted to pull out his hair anytime anyone mentioned Ben because he’d get this sick feeling in his gut that wouldn’t go away for hours and he wouldn’t be able to go to sleep because his mind would just keep replaying pictures of Ben’s face and it was all just really frustrating. He spent a lot of late nights playing Streetfighter with Jay to distract himself from this dumb crush he had developed. These swimming lessons were becoming unbearable, but he couldn’t find it in himself to stop going.

“What do you think I should do, Dude?” The dog lifted his head to look up at him, tail wagging briskly behind him. He let out a loud bark before putting his head back down. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Hi, sorry I’m late but I have good news,” Ben greeted him.

Carlos jumped up wiping the dust off of his pants. “Awesome, what is it?”

“The Auradon Prep Swim Team is having try outs next week and I think you have a really good shot at making it.”

“Whoa, no I’m not that good,” teams meant uniforms, uniforms meant no shirt.

“You’re an amazing swimmer, Carlos. You’d be great,” Ben urged placing his hand on Carlos’ shoulder and giving it a squeeze of encouragement.

“No it’s fine. I mean, I think I’ll stick to Tourney. Swimming isn’t that cool,” he’d really hoped Ben would let it go like he always did.

“Carlos, is this about your shirt thing?” A spark of anger ignited within him and he took a step back to give himself space to cool off.

“No, I just don’t want to swim okay?”

“Why are you lying to me Carlos? I mean it’s okay to be insecure about-" 

“No, Ben! You don’t understand it’s different. Stop acting like you know everything because you don’t, okay?” He wasn’t ready for this confrontation, not now. Anger didn’t usually take a hold of him so strongly but he was protective of his scars and of their whereabouts. He especially didn’t want Ben to know about them. He’d never like him then.

“Carlos I-”

“Let’s go Dude.” The dog who had been watching the entire ordeal with little interest perked up at the mention of his name and trailed happily behind Carlos as he walked away. He needed to talk to Jay, he’d know what to do.

(x)

When he got back to their dorm Jay was playing Streetfighter again and actively avoiding his homework. So it was the usual.

“Hey bro, grab a controller and sit down!” Jay offered not even bothering to turn around and look at him.

“Not right now, Jay,” he grumbled knowing that would get his attention.

“Whoa, Carlos doesn’t want to play video games? That’s new,” with little hesitation he paused the game to turn around and face a very disgruntled Carlos who had taken to pacing around the room.

“What’s eating you man?” Jay asked from his spot on the floor.

“Okay so there’s this person who-"

“Awww is someone having girl problems?” Jay teased making kissy faces at Carlos who decided to throw a pillow at his face in return. He dodged it of course.

“No I’m not!”

“You totally are!” He retorted obviously trying to lure him into one of their childish fights. It was kind of working.

“It’s not even a girl, Jay!” This seemed to stop the other boy in his tracks, for like a second.

“Who’s the lucky guy then? I hope it’s not Chad because, sorry to break it to you, but I think he and Doug have a thing going.” He rolled his eyes at the fact that Jay would even assume he liked Chad.

“No it’s Ben,” he whispered as if someone was actually trying to listen in on their conversation. Given the two girls they were friends with, that was definitely a possibility. He kind of expected the laughter that met his response so he stood there with his arms crossed until the other teen was done.

“Oh dude that’s- he has a thing for ex villains I guess. Alright, well what’d he do? Tell you he loves you too much?” The constant laughing was really getting to him. Maybe coming to Jay was a mistake.

“Can you please be serious?” Jay instantly sobered at his comment taking in how annoyed Carlos actually looked. He’d never asked something like this of him before. Carlos was hardly ever serious, it just wasn’t like him.

“Did he actually do something to you? Evie, Mal, and I could help you take him down right now. Future King or not he’s totally dead!” The ex-villain snarled as he jumped to his feet. Carlos reached out his hand to stop him from moving any further.

“No he didn’t- it’s about me. You know how we all have scars from all the bad things that happened back home?”

Jay nodded lifting up his shirt to point out a dull scar on his right side. “Yeah. I got this one when I stole from some crazy drunk guy like 3 years ago. Before I could leave he stabbed me. It was wild.” He next pulled up his pants leg to reveal a nasty gash that hadn’t healed over quite right. “This one was from a year ago when I hopped over a fence. Barbed wire is not your friend. I mean, why are you asking though?”

“Ben wants me to join the swim team but I- the scars are just too gross. I don’t think I should.” Jay clapped a hand on his back effectively stopping Carlos from pacing.

“It’s okay to have scars, man. They’re like battle wounds, ya know? Cool stories.”

“They’re not cool stories, Jay,” he swallowed his throat suddenly becoming dry. His tongue became heavy in his mouth as he tried to tell his friend what had happened. No sound came out for a while as his lips opened and closed aimlessly his eyes still trained on the ground.

“What-"

“If I show you you have to promise not to tell Evie or Mal or anyone, okay?” Jay gave him a questioning look but nodded in agreement. Carlos’ heart fluttered as he grabbed at his shirt to pull it up and over finally exposing the scars on his chest to Jay. Several large gashes ran diagonal from his heart to the bottom of his ribcage where the skin was still blistered and lighter than the rest of his body. It looked disgusting to him every time he looked at it. It wasn’t a battle scar it was an awful reminder of how things used to be before they had come to Auradon. Before Ben had brought them here.

“Oh shit Carlos what happened? Are those burns? Did someone burn you?” He instinctively reached out to touch it but Carlos quickly backed away protecting the mauled patch of skin.

“My dad he- he came back a couple of years ago and came into the house when mom was away. He said that the only reason I was born was because my Mom was bored and needed a pet. He told me that I never did anything for him s- so why should I be alive. There was an iron an- and he picked it up Jay and he- and he-“ Jay had enveloped him in a hug and as he came back to his thoughts he realized he had been crying. The tears stung his eyes and he swallowed the hiccups that were threatening to rise out of his throat. He tried to gather up the strength to go on; he needed to tell someone. “I thought my mom would come back and at least be upset. But you know what she did? She laughed and told me that’s what I deserved, to be branded because obviously I wasn’t strong enough to stop him. She told me I had to become stronger but even now I’m not strong so maybe I deserve-“

“No, you don’t man! I’m sorry I never paid enough attention. I mean I knew our parents were evil but I just didn’t- man that’s so messed up!” Carlos had stopped crying wiping his remaining tears away with his arm. There was another problem he had to get to.

“Yeah, I know. But I don’t know what to do with Ben now. What if I show him or he finds out somehow and he just thinks I’m a freak?” 

“I don’t think you need to be worrying about Ben right now Carlos he’s just-“

“But I thought that maybe finally someone would actually like me and think I’m brave and cool and stuff and not just some dumb weak kid who used to be scared of dogs! Jay, what if no one ever loves me?” His throat was raw from yelling and he could tell without looking at a mirror that his eyes had turned red and puffy. A sense of exhaustion hit him as his chest heaved and his lungs struggled for air. He’d never said that out loud before, but it was true. His parents never loved him, he was a servant in his own household. He thought that maybe in Auradon he’d find someone that would treat him better. That maybe Ben would love him, but he knew that was a stupid thought.

He felt a steadying hand latch on to his arm and looked up to see a very pissed off Jay staring back. “Man, I love you. Evie loves you. Even Mal loves you! We’d do anything for you because we’re like our own family. So, stop saying stuff like that, okay? You’ve been through so much and it sucks, but you’re still like the strongest dude I know.”

“Really? Thanks I didn’t know- thanks,” Carlos sighed his breathing evening out as he allowed himself to crack a small smile at Jay’s words. He knew that they were friends but it never occurred to him that they would care so much. A warm feeling fluttered in his heart and he felt the anger that he had bottled up slowly drain away. Jay returned to his place on the floor.

“No problem. That was enough touchy feely stuff to last me a lifetime.” He knew he meant well. “Oh and if Ben doesn’t like you because of your past then he’s literally the dumbest person ever because he wanted us ex-villains to come here in the first place.” Jay was actually making a lot of sense for once.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“I know. Now go find him before you get all sulky again,” Jay suggested restarting his game.

“I don’t get sulky!”

“Um, yeah you do.” 

“No, I don’t!”

“Just go!” Carlos walked out of the room his heart feeling a bit lighter as he headed back to the lake.

(x)

He had hoped Ben would still be there when he got back but he couldn’t see him anywhere. With a deep breath he moved to take off his shirt exposing his scars to the air again before quickly moving into the water. It felt good to be able to swim with nothing holding him down. He felt weightless as he floated along trying not to dwell too much on the eerie feeling that he was being watched. His suspicions had been confirmed when, from the other side of the lake, Ben’s head emerged out of the water.

“How long were you under there for?” Carlos asked his throat still burning.

“Like 3 minutes. It’s a new record.” Ben replied smugly. He swam over to Carlos until he came face to face with the other boy.

“Ben, I can explain-“

“I’m sorry,” Carlos didn’t have time to finish his statement as soft lips landed upon his own and a pair of warm hands set themselves on his hips. Any coherent thought he’d had had been thrown out the window when he felt Ben’s hands start to make their way up his body stopping short at the scars that blossomed across his chest. “Can I touch them?” The words rolled serenely off his tongue and it made Carlos want to kiss him again. He thought about it for a moment.

“No, not right now. I’ll tell you about them later.”

“Okay,” his simple response conveyed so much acceptance and trust and things Carlos never thought he’d feel. It kind of made him want to puke. In a good way. Yeah, that made sense. One of Ben’s hands lifted out of the water and up to Carlos’ face where the other boy began to stroke along the distinct pattern of his freckles. “For the first time I understand the difference between handsome and beautiful.”

Carlos snorted. “That was probably the dorkiest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re basically the Prince of Dorks.” His response was met with a warm smile that seemed so familiar and sweet.

“I hope you don’t mind being the boyfriend of the Prince of Dorks,” he whispered pulling Carlos’ face closer to him.

“No, I think it’s pretty cool,” he confided leaning in for one more kiss before placing his head onto the other boys shoulder. He tried to think about his mother and what she would say if he saw him but the way Ben held him left no room for thoughts about the past. He had Jay, Mal, Evie, and now he had Ben. For the first time in a long time, he felt strong.


End file.
